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Lightsaber thoughts and questions...

A thread in the ATOC forum got me thinking about something. It would appear that Obi-wan and Anakin are going to duel each other other with their respective blue-bladed lightsabers. Something about that just strikes me as being a little odd though. I'm not sure two sabers of the same color are going to be as visually striking as the contrasting colors we've seen in all the other films.

In ATOC, it seems Lucas very deliberately had Anakin and Obi-wan armed with different colored lightsabers by the time the duel with Dooku occurred. Anakin's two-saber attacks are much more stimulating to the eye because of the two different colors, and I think Lucas is concious of the asthetic it creates.

But I would imagine Obi-wan and Anakin dueling with the same colored blades would be somehow less stimulating to the eye and almost difficult to follow. The duels we've seen in the other movies have a wonderful rhythm because the great lightsaber sound effects and flashes of color are so perfectly coordinated. There is a fabulous dance of light, punctuated by hums and crashes. The very beginning of the duel at Bespin is one of the finer moments of all the films: two adversaries shrouded in the dark distinguished only by the color of their weapons. The swordplay runs almost like a dialogue. I feel that somehow, the colors play a very important part in creating that atmosphere. If Lucas had decided early on that lazerswords would just be one generic color (like a burning white, similar to the early concept art), then the "cool" factor of the lightsaber in general would be less and the duels would be somehow less dramatic. Imagine trying to follow the Qui-gon/Obi-wan duel with Darth Maul if everyone had the same colored sword. It would a big flashy mess.

My point is this...I'd like to see Lucas devise a way to have Obi-wan and Anakin duel with different colored blades. Appently this is going to be the greatest duel of all time, and I wouldn't want it's impact to be diminished because of a visual flaw. But how would he do it? I suppose he could have Anakin build his red colored saber at some point before they fight. But I remember reading somewhere that he builit the red one as part of his transformation into Vader. I suppose he could use Mace's purple one. My understanding is that Anakin is the one who eventually kills Mace. He could possibly keep his lightsaber as a symbol to the rest of the Jedi, kind of like a trophy: "I hold the weapon of senior member of the Jedi council. Now I am the master"...that kind of thing. It would be somewhat ironic that Anakin would hunt down and destroy the last of the Jedi with their head guy's weapon.

I dunno...this was just a weird thing I was thinking about and was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way. Lightsabers are one of favorite parts of the Star Wars experience. I remember seeing ROTJ in the theater when I was six. When Luke's Lightsaber popped out green for the first time, I remember turning to my mother, "Mommy, he's got a green one!". And when I saw the original teaser trailer for TPM on tv for the first time, I had the same reaction when Darth Maul popped out his second blade (this was before I had internet access, so the trailer was actually the first time i had seen anything for TPM). Maybe Lucas can give us one more surprise in the way of lightsaber gimmicks. But I do hope he handles the color coordination in the manner which I've described.

At the very least though, Anakin's and Obi-Wan's sabers are very different shades of blue. Anakin will be using the saber that Luke used in ANH and ESB -- it's such a light shade of blue, it's almost white. Obi-Wan's is a deeper shade of blue.

Anakin will be using the saber that Luke used in ANH and ESB -- it's such a light shade of blue, it's almost white. Obi-Wan's is a deeper shade of blue.

I think that was just an inconsistency in the special effect. My understanding is that the original "glow" effect was created by a chemical being hand applied to each frame. I think they call it rotoscoping. Not really an exact science. In fact, Luke's blade is a different shade of blue in the two times we see it in ANH. You're right, it is almost white in Ben's house, and then a little more blue when training on the Falcon. But it is more consistenly blue in ESB.

When Lucas said he was doing the special editions, I had hoped that the lightsaber effects would have been one of the things he would fix (Obi-wan's blade flickering out, Vader's not being lit when walking up to the blast door, Luke's being different shades of white/blue). Oh well, no such luck. Maybe in the extra-special-with-sprinkles-on-top edition.

I'd definitely like to see different colour blades.
That which makes the most sense is for Anakin to use a red one.
It's a clear signal that he has become the bad guy.
Doesn't matter if he uses one that he made himself or another.
Maybe he could find himself without a saber (again) and have to force-call the sabre of a fallen sith. (dooku or whatever).

Re: Lightsaber thoughts and questions...

Since everyone is dusting off some old threads, I'll take a shot at it.

I think the blue on blue worked out just like I thought it would: it was a flashy mess. End of story. My wife, who is NOT a SW fan by any means, but likes to be supportive when we go see the movies, turned to me right as "The Duel" started and said "Why doesn't he have a red sword? Isn't he evil now?" I saw the movie later with my parents and after the movie, my mother asked me the same thing: "Why didn't he get a red sword when he became Darth Vader?" Again, these are questions coming from people who know little to nothing about SW, outside of what they remember from having seen the movies once each, so for them to ask the same question leads me to the conclusion that most casual SW fans had the a similar reaction. Lucas goes to all the trouble to set up the rule "good guys are green and blue, bad guys are red", then doesn't follow through with it? If Anakin has truly gone bad, then there should be some visual represenatation of it, especially a visual representation that Lucas has been so careful to maintain. The "hood up when he's evil" thing doesn't quite cut it.

I know it would have been hard to see a pink-lit sword against a lava background, but it still could have worked.

Re: Lightsaber thoughts and questions...

I think the blue vs. blue saber was done on purpose, as the song that plays during the battle its a "Battle of the Hero's." Both swordsman are 'good' and its tough to say who to cheer for. I personally don't have a problem with both blades being the same color, sure it could have been a bit easier on the eye had the blades been different colors but like I said it wasn't a big deal.

Had the duel taken place a bit later on down the road Vader would have had a red blade, however remember that Ani changes 'teams' and then heads off to the temple and then Mustafar (with a quick side trip to Padme's). These events take place 'bam bam bam' there wouldn't be time to fool around getting a red blade. As Palps says in his office "we must move quickly... the Jedi are relentless." I think it was a matter of timing that prevented the red blade.

Re: Lightsaber thoughts and questions...

I've only seen the film once and I seem to be the only person on the planet who doesn't have a pirate copy but yes I think the 2 blue blades detracted from the fight. I couldn't tell what was going on - who was attacking, who was defending and this was made worse by how fast moving they were. It would have made perfect sense for me had Palpy just given Anakin his Vader lightsaber. I was disappointed by the duel in no small part because both sabres were the same colour.

Also JimJamBonds, who to cheer for? For me it was a no-brainer - I wanted Obi-wan to kick anakin's arse!! (and I'm satisfied enough that he did)